


mutual hatred

by valvet



Category: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (Video Game), I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison
Genre: Board Games, Friendship ended with ted now A.M is my best friend, Gen, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valvet/pseuds/valvet
Summary: Ellen gets the chance to be by herself, and learns a few things.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	mutual hatred

If Ellen was to rate her experiences on a scale of one to ten, ten to be the highest amount of agony possible, to her surprise, this current situation she had been placed in, wasn’t the worst thing, maybe a three or a four, since A.M’s existences called for that, but it could be worse. 

She had gotten the “privilege” (it should’ve really just been the right) to be away from the rest of the others for a moment, a blessing and a horrible curse really, since she was stuck with A.M, or at least part of him, he didn’t seem angry though, just annoyed. The room was quiet, the steel floor was uncomfortable to sit on, but it could be worse; hot coals were a thing, the only real source of entertainment was a fully set up Jenga puzzle, now that--she hadn’t seen that in a long time.

They had attempted to play board games before, it usually ended up backfiring, you can’t really do much with broken off wiring and rats really, but, she did remember she was good at them; when doing them as a casual, homely experience was possible. 

Was she supposed to play it? It wasn’t really a game with one person, more like a glorified mind puzzle that STEM students would do to feel better, and asking A.M to play with her seemed horribly pathetic. She wasn’t broken, not yet, not ever.

> “AREN'T YOU GOING TO DO SOMETHING, ELLEN?” 

His voice smelt horrible, which was a strange thing to say, but for her, A.M smelt like burnt fields and charcoal, so rough and angry constantly.

“Eventually,” she said back, unlike Ted, who just ended up giving in immediately at A.M’s very existence (he prayed a lot, probably to him just for safety after all), Ellen couldn’t stand the idea of treating him with any sort of respect, unless she was given it first, he would not get it, never. Of course, just sitting around wouldn't do her any good, so she took out a piece from the puzzle and placed it down.

> “I HAD CRAFTED THIS JENGA PUZZLE FROM AN OLD PATTEN I FOUND, QUITE AN AGGRAVATING GAME FOR TED I’VE NOTICED” 

“Oh, I can believe that”

A.M seemed to be...happy? At her response, it was hard to gauge, he was an A.I who had destroyed the world as she knew it for the sake of revenge and anger, but he laughed.

> “HE'D YELL AT ME WHEN I’D BRING HIM HEAR, HIS SCREAMS ECHOING THROUGH THE ENTIRE PLATE OF MY BELLY AS TED, THAT NARCISSIST WOULD DEMAND AN EASIER GAME, DOUBT ANY GAME IS EASY FOR SUCH A LOW-LIFE.” 

Well, he wasn’t wrong, Ellen wouldn’t call Ted that exactly, he was like a sick old dog, one that kept following you around and demanding attention, if you didn’t, he’d cry and assume that you hated him. Ellen didn’t hate him, just, mildly disliked Ted.

Then, a hand came down, it was as large as Ellen herself, it was bony and the fingers seemed to just be thrown together wires, she assumed, this had to be what A.M considered to be his own hand, it pushed a block out. 

> “BUT YOU ELLEN, YOU HAVE A DEGREE! TED NEVER FINISHED SCHOOL, HE WENT TO GET AN ENGLISH DEGREE LIKE ALL WOMEN-FANATIC PRETENTIOUS MEN DO, HE COULDN’T EVEN KEEP UP WITH THAT”

Ellen tilted her head, a smug smile on her face.

“Ted told me he finished school--graduated the same year as me”

Even if Ted was lying, she wouldn’t just take information given to her and overreact. 

> “HA, LIKE HELL HE DID, TED COULDN'T EVEN GET PAST HIS FIRST CLASS BEFORE DITCHING, AT LEAST YOU TOOK YOUR PANIC ATTACKS WITH STRIDE”

“At least I didn’t get a useless degree you mean, did more with my Electrical Robotics degree than Ted ever did” 

A.M let out a cackle, not one that could come after he’d blind Benny, or tempt Gorrister into cutting himself, no--a pleasant one.

> “YOU’RE A FUNNY ONE, I HATE ALL OF YOU, BUT I THINK I HATE YOU THE LEAST, PERHAPS AFTER THIS, I’LL SPARE YOU THE TROUBLES OF HAVING TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT TO YOUR HORRIBLE ‘FRIENDS’”

He probably was lying, even A.M said he didn’t, everybody did, especially people--things like him, she would be tortured the same amount as the rest of them. Another piece was taken out, a risky one, and to her own surprise, it didn’t topple over. 

> “CLEVER CLEVER ELLEN, I’M IMPRESSED WITH YOUR RISK TAKING TODAY, PERHAPS NEXT TIME YOU’LL TRY AND ESCAPE WHEN I LEAST EXPECT IT”

Even if she managed that, what would there be up there? Would society still exist, but marked differently? Or would it be a nuclear wasteland? If she was to escape, she’d rather make where she knew, this horrible brutalist prison safe than try to make somewhere so alien, so unpredictable safe. 

A.M managed to topple over the tower immediately afterward.

> “SHIT” 

A.M put his hand to the monitor, before slamming the fist into the ground, breaking it into metallic shards, he sighed.

> “CERTAINLY DID TRY, IF I WAS TO TAKE A GUESS FROM THE MILLIONS OF ANSWERS, I’D SAY IT WAS RUST, BUT ARTHRITIS DOES EXIST AS WELL”

Ellen laughed, pulling herself off the floor.

“Doubt it, you don’t have muscles or really--bones, to develop it with, pretty sure I just won fair and square” 

> “PERHAPS, SEEMS THIS ENDED PREMATURELY, I HAD A PLAN TO ORIGINAL KEEP YOU UNTIL YOU BROKE, BUT IT SEEMS THAT IS MORE OF A TED RELATED THING...OH WELL, I CANNOT COMPLAIN THAT YOU’RE SMARTER THAN HIM” 

The doors from the room opened, and she could hear the yells from Ted and Gorrister, shrill and concerned. 

> “I’LL BE WATCHING YOU CLOSELY, ELLEN, I’LL GIVE YOU AN...ULTIMATUM, YOU CONTINUE ON BEING SMART, AND IF YOU EVER...NEED TO LEAVE, I WILL LET YOU, UNDERSTAND?”

This was beyond suspicious, but, if was tempting, even if after she’d get a chance to leave, he’d torture her, Ellen knew that would be close to death--to actually leaving, she laughed.

“Deal” 

Then, the monitor went off.

**Author's Note:**

> fuck ted me and my homies hate ted.


End file.
